Minna's Chronicles: The Release of Dar'Ichi
by Kawaii Koneko Ichigo
Summary: The last story in 'Minna's Chronicles' based around the character Ichigo and the demon that posseses her. After Dar'Ichi takes over Ichigo's body she goes on a masochistic rampage. Only a weapon of the God's can stop her now, but he may already be dead!
1. Introduction

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_**The Release of Dar'Ichi**_

Blood, Red eyes, tainted with a thirst for blood, Bright, Blue eyes, emitting a sense of justice, locked in a death glare. The perfect portrayal of good versus evil. The heavens weeping upon the blood stained battlefield and awaiting the first move. Life forms, lacking humanity, thus drenched, each oblivious to anything other than the piercing stare of their opponent. The weapon of the God's standing before a demon, the stand off that would ultimately determine this realms fate. Or merely the fate of a single girl, innocent and naïve...


	2. Chapter 1

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**Chapter 1**

The harsh wind howled through what seemed like a never ending forest of trees that breached the dismal clouds, leaving leaves and discarded twigs rustling in it's wake. It followed a pair of footprints which soiled the soaked, muddy ground in which they lay. Following to what would inevitably be the destination of which the footprints were headed, the wind dodged all surrounding trees and continued onwards, the heavy downpour gradually masking and disguising the remains of the footprints left behind. A soft light greeted the breeze as it escaped the green abyss and entered into a large clearing, hidden in the midst of the forest, findable only by those who knew where it lay. The sun peeped out from behind the clouds, lighting up the field that was the clearing with a soft warmth, before resuming it's hide out. Each individual blade of grass was decorated by raindrops and drowning in mud tinted puddles, the rainwater disrupted by the passing wind. Bypassing a lonely willow tree which stood single in the otherwise empty field, the wind then skipped over a river which coursed lively right through the clearing and disappeared into the forest. The breeze forcedly halted, seeing the cease of it's pursued footprints and began teasing a small piece of paper but failing to release it from the drawing pin that kept it attached to the large oak door that made the entrance to a mansion.

The oak door stood 7ft tall and incorporated several shades of brown into the woodwork. In the centre was a knocker, carefully hand crafted from the same wood into the shape of a lion head. The mansion was built three stories high, as indicated by stained glass windows, outlined by matching oak and set neatly in the dark grey stone with which the mansion was built. The tiled roof was a night sky shade of purple and complimented the stone exterior nicely. Baby pink curtains, visible through a window appeared to be brushed hastily to the side before falling back into place and returning to their still state, the movement caused by the passing of an adolescent resident of the mansion.

A teenage girl skipped happily into the kitchen, her overly large, beige, leather boots having less impact on the tiled floor than would be expected. Her hair, tied up in a high ponytail swung freely from side to side with her movement and trailed down her back, the longer layers brushing gently against the backs of her knees. Stray beams of sunlight that managed to escape the masking caused by dominant clouds and seep through a nearby window bounced effortlessly off of her sleek, pink locks. As the girl stood on her tip toes, the shorter layers of her hair that framed her face and levelled out right the way around her head parted, revealing a large pair of cat ears. Her ears pricked up from the leant back position in which they had previously lay dormant, leaving visible their black, fur exterior and skin coloured inside, their appearance and proportions no different to that of an actual cat. The girl ran her hands slowly down the front of her grey dress, outlining her breasts and curving in at the waist, in an attempt to flatten out any creases. The dim glow from the light bulb above her reflected off of the silver cuff links of the large white cuffs, that decorated the ends of her long sleeves, as she placed her hands on the marble counter behind her. Pushing down on the counter, she hoisted herself onto it, seating herself left of the sink and directly in front of the window, the mini skirt of her dress momentarily flashing the skin of her thighs that her cream stockings failed to conceal. Leaning her ears back once again, the girl began to fiddle, aimlessly with one of the many brown belt buckles that decorated her dress, waiting patiently for the other residents to come down for breakfast.


	3. Chapter 2

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**Chapter 2**

As if like clockwork, the familiar sound of footsteps indicated someone slowly making their way down the corridor, causing the girl to prick up her left ear, her acute sense of hearing allowing her to identify the approacher.

She looked up from her belt buckle, just as another girl walked hesitantly through the doorway.

"Hello Ichigo" Spoke the girl timidly, her voice quiet and quivering. Ichigo was the creator of the mansion in which they lived and she had set it up, in it's hidden location as a place for people to go when they were no longer welcome anywhere else. She had built it for outcasts, runaways, people who were considered 'Freaks' by modern society, people who had suffered harsh upbringings and those that simply needed a retreat. The mansion was set up as a place where everyone could feel happy, safe and secure, and just be themselves, a place where society had no influence. Tenshi, the young, timid girl was their newest resident. She had spent her life abused by her 'master' which inevitably led to her untimely death, however having died under such horrific circumstances she ended up spending her afterlife as a bound spirit, forever trapped in this realm. Tenshi was unlike any ghosts you read about in books, she kept a physical form of the way she remembered herself when alive. Having simply come across the mansion, Tenshi was attracted to the warm loving environment she had never before been exposed to, she decided to stay and live her afterlife the way she should have lived her life. When she arrived she didn't know how to speak or even interact with other people, but over time she was taught by the other residents and eventually accepted into the family that had affectionately come to call themselves 'Minna'.

"Good Morning Tenshi" Ichigo replied, grinning and waving her fluffy, black tail happily from side to side behind her, the silk, black ribbon that decorated the end of it being swung, almost violently, the movement causing a small, silver bell that was attached to the ribbon to tinkle softly.

"Did you sleep well...?" At this, Tenshi merely nodded in reply, her blond hair falling forward, over her shoulders and onto her chest, before being pulled back and reaching down to the middle of her back. Tenshi wore a ribbon, same as Ichigo but hers was tied around her neck giving the effect of a choker, however the bell on her ribbon had suffered damage and failed to ring. As she looked up at Ichigo, the left strap of Tenshi's baggy, white, sleeveless top fell from her shoulder and began to rest on her upper arm. Tenshi was the youngest resident and although, being merely two years younger than Ichigo herself, her mannerism made her appear younger, which was present as she shuffled along the kitchen floor, the soles of her white socks picking up dust as she moved. The young blond placed her hands on a chair and pulled it out from under the dining table that sat in the centre of the kitchen before taking a seat and resting her hands on the black mini shorts that concealed the pale skin of her thighs. Tenshi then smiled up at Ichigo weakly, not wanting to be rude, her big, blue eyes beaming and so full of wonder, another aspect that caused her to seem younger. Ichigo parted her lips as if to speak when she was interrupted by the some what annoying creaking sound that the back door produced as it was swung open forcefully.

There was only one person that would be entering the mansion at that time in the morning, the only person who had her own her room and stored all her stuff there, yet insisted on spending her nights in a motel. Every night she would journey through the forest and into a nearby town and every morning she would venture back. Her reasons for this were assumed to be the fact that she never slept, but had never actually been questioned. The two girls turned to face the doorway as a third girl made her way into the kitchen. This girl was different to the first two; she seemed to have a darker aura and was very kept to herself. The girl was panting slightly, her chest heaving up and down in time with her heavy breathing, making it quite clear that she had ran most of the way, which was understandable considering the heavy downpour that had plagued them since early morning. She took a hold of her long, silvery, white hair, gripping as much of it as she could and began to squeeze out the water it was drenched by, the water that fell splashed upon impact with the tiled floor and began to form a small puddle around the girl's feet.

"Wuah~ I'm soaking! Hi-Hi everyone!" Despite emitting the sense that she was dark and cold, she spoke sweetly, the parting of her lips causing her to bear her two large fangs, which grazed her bottom lip and glistened as light hit them. Ichigo pre-emptively jumped down from the counter on which she was sat and ducked down in front of it, shielding herself with her arms held over her head, as the soaked girl simultaneously dove over to Tenshi, pulling her down to the floor and seeking refuge underneath the table. Shards of glass burst into the room as a brown blur came crashing through the window, shattering it and then colliding with the floor, followed closely by a blanket of broken glass and debris.


	4. Chapter 3

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**Chapter 3**

An older boy, in his late adolescence jumped to his feet, and out of the debris and without bothering to catch his breath, he didn't hesitate to cry out.

"ICHIGO!?" He brushed some broken glass off of his dark brown, leather jacket then began adjusting the belt used to hold his jeans up. His jeans were denim, varying between two different shades of navy, and the knees were torn revealing his grazed, dust covered kneecaps. He puffed upwards, blowing his fringe away from his eyes as he began to scratch the back of his head, ruffling up his short blond hair slightly, but not enough to effect the gelled up, spiky effect he had going on.

"Have you... seen Raito?" He growled between pants, rage filling his eyes.

"Hi Kazuki" Said Hikari, the girl with fangs who had resumed her attempts at drying off her hair, creating more hazardous puddles on the kitchen floor.

"What has Raito done now?" She asked, rolling her eyes. During the commotion, the four teenagers had failed to notice Raito, lingering in the doorway, an unamused look painted across his face. He raised his hand to his forehead and flicked his long, jet black fringe away from his face, allowing his gaze to wonder to and from each occupant of the room.

"What the hell did I do?" His voice showed boredom tinted with anger as his gaze focused on Kazuki, his eyes narrowing into a spiteful glare. Hikari smiled and greeted Raito as she tugged on her drenched shirt, seemingly more focused on that than on him.

"Hello Raito, How are you? As you can see I am soaking wet." She sighed, as her eyes travelled down her clothes, wondering why she had yet to change out of them and without another word she turned towards the doorway. Having stood up and watched silently as yet another random occurrence took place, Ichigo's eyes followed as Raito stormed out of the kitchen, arguing intensely with a limping Kazuki and followed closely by Hikari, still focused on her clothes and mumbling away. Ichigo looked down at the mess of glass, wood and water that stained the kitchen floor and sighed to herself wondering why she was always left to clean up.

Upon peering around the thought to be empty room, Ichigo noticed Tenshi had returned to her seat at the table which had subsequently been pushed in to the corner of the room.

"So how did you sleep Ichigo?" She spoke softly, replying to Ichigo's earlier question only to then worry that she was being a bother. Ichigo, in no way finding her presence a nuisance, which is what plagued Tenshi's mind, turned to look at her and grinned blissfully as she spoke.

"I had a nice long kitty nap and only woke up a while ago so I'm feeling nice and refreshed." A sweet smile concluded Ichigo's reply as she turned to look through the hole in the wall, where the window used to sit. The breeze, although weaker than before still managed to carry the raindrops through the hole, allowing them to scatter upon the counter top. Listening to the soft pattering of the raindrops whilst looking out over the open field, Ichigo zoned out a little, becoming oblivious to the fact that Hikari had returned.

"That's much better" Hikari spoke out in an almost relieved way. At this Ichigo's ears pricked up as she turned to look at Hikari, a smile painted across her face as she replied.

"You know it's raining quite a bit, you could have just stuck with your

'it was raining' story"

"I know, but it was kind of funny..." Hikari giggle, Her hair was still wet and the beads of water ran smoothly down each strand, the fall from the end of Hikari's hair short enough for the beads to avoid a splashing collision with the floor. Hikari's Black, High-heeled, leather boots prevented her hair from tickling the backs of her calves and ran all the way up her long legs, running high enough to be confused with tights. Despite the mere inches of flesh that her boots failed to cover, Hikari's daringly short dress left her thighs visible, barely covering her underwear. Her dress could have easily been a piece of black, satin cloth, zipped up at the back, it clung against her skin and outlined her large breasts in a breathtaking manner. Having finished her sentence, Hikari tucked her hair neatly behind her ears, waiting patiently for Ichigo to reply.

"I know I shouldn't like the rain..." Ichigo started, changing the subject completely without even realising it.

"But I do" She turned and grinned at the two girls. Tenshi looked up and

smiled sweetly.

"So that's why your so happy today" Ichigo grinned and nodded in reply.

"I'm going out in the rain; we all need to be happy today so... anybody

wish to join me?" At this, Hikari immediately pulled out a beautiful, feminine

white umbrella and smiled.

"I will, but I'm not getting wet for a while..."

"I'll join you Ichigo" Tenshi said quietly. Ichigo giggled and

skipped over to the back door, swung it open and ran outside into the middle of the field.


	5. Chapter 4

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**Chapter 4**

Ichigo giggled softly and started spinning around, becoming drenched by the heavy rain as it cascaded down upon her. She looked up at the sky as it drowned in a sea of black clouds, her ears leant back from the weight of the water which slid effortlessly through her hair before dripping off of the ends and running down her back. Hikari stepped outside, onto the soggy grass, the difference from the solid tiled floor on which she previously stood, obvious to her even through her stilettos. Holding her umbrella high above her head, she slipped her hand into her pocked and sighed, as the familiar soft tinkling sound of a bell erupted from her pocket, a reaction to the fumbling of her hand. Tenshi then followed, stepping outside, she passed Hikari and stood between her and Ichigo before she spoke, almost as if to be noticed.

"Rain is... lovely, I think" Hikari sighed again, completely dismissing Tenshi's pointless comment and looked directly at Ichigo.

"Ichigo... can I talk to you a second?" At this Ichigo shook herself causing beads of

water to fly off of her, before she walked over to Hikari.

"What is it?" Hikari closed her eyes and pulled the tinkling item out of her pocket holding it out to Ichigo. It was a small silver bell on a black ribbon exactly the same as the one that decorated Ichigo's tail.

"This was left for me outside my door at the motel I stayed at last night. The staff don't know who left it and neither do I. The actual person who it was from didn't leave it they had a friend leave it

but are not allowed to tell me who... and I don't know what to do" Ichigo looked at the ribbon, cocking her left eyebrow and then grabbed her tail, looking at the

ribbon on that with the same expression. After a few seconds of silence she looked back at Hikari's

ribbon, her sceptical expression having changed to a confused one.

"That's the same as my ribbon... Did you see the 'friend' that left it? Maybe that is a clue to who it is from... And does this ribbon have any significance to you? That may also be a clue." Taking only the time it took for her to take a breath, Ichigo's confused mannerism faded to idiosyncratic of when she was solving a problem. Questions poured forth from her lips without even a breath in between them, yet Hikari answered them with the same haste.

"No I didn't see who left it... I was asleep. And it has no significance to me..." Hikari

sighed in realisation of how her answers would inevitably lead to the failure of figuring out her little problem.

"Hmm... well I guesses it's a mystery" Ichigo smiled and turned away from Hikari.

"...I wouldn't let it get to you" She started walking back to the middle of the field, having been taking on ever more water from the pouring rain the whole time. Hikari watched Ichigo, failing to be amused by her usual carefree behaviour and then looked down at the bell in her hand, sighing once again.

"Who would give this too me..."

Spinning around recklessly, embracing the warm feeling she felt when in the rain, Ichigo slipped on the wet grass, her legs flailing forwards, as she fell backwards, landing on her back with a thump. Water splashed around her from the impact, drenching her in a muddy substance and leaving her sprawled out on the ground.

"Wuah~ Owe that hurt" She exclaimed to nobody in particular. She looked down at the ground next to her and noticed a set of footprints leading towards her house and originating in the forest surrounding her. She touched the footprints and felt that they were fresh, examining them by the feel of the soil against her fingertips.

"The footprints are too big to be any of us... most likely male and they're still fresh so it couldn't have been the guys that left earlier, besides they went the other way..." She said quietly to

herself. Hikari slowly walked over to Ichigo and looked down at the footprints.

"Wh-what? Footprints? Who could have left them?" She asked, an unusual sense of anxiety present in her tone. Ichigo explained what she had just said to herself and continued...

"These footprints are leading towards the mansion so someone came here without us noticing..."

She went on whilst messing with a piece of mood from the footprints in-between her two middle fingers, taking into consideration that none of the residents would have been travelling in that direction, except Hikari, who didn't fit the profile.

"And there are no footprints leading away from the house so that means he probably hasn't left..." She said worriedly. Hikari looked towards her sharing the same expression, yet her eyes seemed to show a sense of excited curiosity.

"Who do you think could have left these Ichigo?"

"I don't know..." Ichigo replied as she stood up and inspected where the footprints lead to.

"That's weird they end at my front door..." Ichigo, peering in the direction of the great Oak door, noticed something shiny reflecting off of it. She started walking towards the door, following the footsteps carefully, stepping just outside of them. Ichigo approached the door, to identify the object which was causing the reflection as a drawing pin, which held a small piece of paper in place, protected from the harsh grasp of the wind. She tore the letter of the door and held it in front of her, reading it out loud.

"I'm sorry for the trouble this will cause... I had nowhere else to turn"


	6. Chapter 5

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**Chapter 5**

Ichigo focused on the letter for a while, looking confused, before she looked around suspiciously. On the far left of the mansion, about 20ft away, and directly below the destroyed window that peered into the kitchen, she noticed one of her flowerbeds had been unearthed slightly, the flowers a complete mess. She walked over too it slowly and knelt down beside it, not knowing if she actually wanted to find out the meaning of the note. The moment her knees hit the ground, her stockings becoming evermore stained by the muddy mess in which she sat, Ichigo found herself overwhelmed by a sense of hopelessness_. What was this she was bout to discover? _Hikari ran over to Ichigo and pointed to the note, curiously.

"What's that Ichigo?" Ichigo passed the note to Hikari expressionlessly and started to dig through the wet soil with her hands, oblivious to the soiled mess that began to inhabit beneath her fingernails. A sharp scream echoed through the field as Ichigo jumped back and where she had been

digging a human hand was visible, sticking up out of the flowerbed.

Hikari finished reading the note in time to hear the horrific scream that escaped Ichigo's lips and looked over at the flowerbed, before screaming herself. Tenshi, hearing the commotion, wandered over gingerly only to be frozen in shock and be left standing, lips parted, gazing over the tragic discovery.

"Wh-what the h-hell...? Now this has creped me out... ME!" Hikari half stuttered, half screamed. Ichigo's ears leant back and the hairs of her tail stood on end began shaking, but continued digging and moving the soil around, her eyes half closed, to reveal

the face. She looked away and screamed in sorrow.

"Tsuki... It's Tsuki... He... He's... Dead..." She wept. Hikari fell to her knees, shaking and started to cry. Tenshi stood, still frozen in shock, silent screams visible from her expression.

"Tsuki... I don't understand... How can it be Tsuki...?" Disregarding Hikari's words and desperately trying to suppress all emotion, Ichigo inspected the body, shaking violently.

"It looks like he died... from head trauma..." She concluded based on the partially dried blood that stained the corpse's face and head, sticking locks of his previously flawless hair together.

"He has wounds all over him" Ichigo touched the wounds on his left arm gently, moving her fingers softly across the deep cuts that scarred him, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Th-These wounds look like claw marks... Which means he was killed by one of us... One with animal features"

"B-But who would want to kill Tsuki?" Hikari asked, standing up, her voice quivering as violently as her lips. Ichigo shook her head in dismay.

"Well from the way he died we have four suspects." She stood up and

looked around seriously.

"Mukizu... Kari.... Kazuki and... Me..."

Hikari's eyes began to glow crimson red with rage.

"I am going to kill whoever did this to Tsuki...." She growled angrily

"We can rule you out Ichigo as the evidence so far says it's a male" Raito stood, silently in the shadows and looked directly at Tsuki's fresh corpse. Always aware of her surroundings, Hikari immediately felt his presence, and looked over at Raito, suspiciously

"I can see you even when you're hidden in the shadows."

"We all know it wasn't me..." Ichigo stated

"And Mukizu and Kari haven't been here since... So that just leaves Kazuki..."

"And Raito... Where were you early this morning Raito...?" Hikari quizzed the male, interrupting Ichigo and allowing her sceptical side to momentarily take over. Raito tilted his head to the side slightly, His long hair subsequently being flicked in time with the movement. His hair was pitch black and perfectly styled into a leaning effect, mostly to his right, a clever effect that fitted his 'bad ass' personality flawlessly. He tucked his hands into the pockets of his tight, black, skinny Jeans, allowing them shelter from the rain that cascaded upon his equally tight T-shirt, the outline of his toned chest vis able through the black fabric. Appearing to be in no way affected by the situation, Raito replied in his usual toneless voice.

"Why would I kill one of my closest friends, and for no reason?.. Besides the evidence rules me out."

"I know... I just had to be sure" Hikari replied, looking down as Raito approached the crime scene, his hands at no point leaving his pockets.

"So if it wasn't Me, _Raito_, Mukizu or Kari... IT WAS KAZUKI!" Ichigo

exclaimed, causing Hikari to look up and shake her head in disbelief.

"I refuse to believe it was Kazuki" Ichigo looked down at the floor

and spoke sadly, an almost lifeless tone.

"He and Tsuki were fighting last night... and it would explain why he came crashing through my window... he was trying to escape or something... And he said that Raito had done something... Maybe he was trying to pin in on Raito..."

"I didn't kill him... it was Ichigo!"

Kazuki spoke nonchalantly as he walked out from behind a tree, and slowly made his way across the field and over to the group of teenagers. He glared at Ichigo and began to chuckle to himself. Raito looked around expressionlessly and bored of this little parade he walked over to the great Oak tree, paying no attention to the downpour. With one swift movement he jumped up into the tree, landing softly on a high, sturdy branch and took a seat, leaning back against the tree trunk as he closed his eyes, hoping to catch some shut eye.

"She tried to blame it on me... Nah~... It is true we were fighting and

I thrown through the window by some sort of weird blue force that Tsuki emitted... _That was weird_..." Kazuki explained calmly, muttering the last part of his sentence, before continuing.

"But I did _NOT_ kill him!" He emphasized, staring directly at Ichigo. He started laughing and scratched the back of his head, almost nervously, leaving everyone else silent with confusion.

"We were fighting and he ran into a tree... He died of brain trauma..." Kazuki said, looking away in shame at his own dark sense of humour. Hikari grabbed Kazuki's collar and pinned him up against the tree, with a strength inhuman for a girl of her petite build. There was rage and frustration showing in her eyes, which were still crimson red.

"This is far from funny Kazuki... I may seem nice but I am not someone you want to anger and guess what... You just have" She spoke with a sort of eerie calm.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

As if in reply to this, the look in Kazuki's eyes changed signifying a rage being released within him. His pupils lost their circular shape and sharpened into small slits, as a sort of black pattern began to bleed into his Hazel coloured eyes.

"Let me go... or face the consequences" He spoke similar to Hikari at this point and his body began to change. Three marks appeared on each of his cheeks and grew, spreading across his skin until they looked like whiskers. His two front canines began to enlarge into fangs, reaching down past his lower lip. Cracking noises erupted from Kazuki's spine, causing him to groan in pain, his groans growing louder as the same noise is heard from his hands and feet. The bones of his hands began to grow, stretching his skin as his hands metamorphosed into what resembled the paw of a wolf, his nails growing longer by the second and curling into sinister claws. In time with a loud cracking sound, Kazuki fell forward, leaving him standing on all fours as the bones in his legs transformed with the rest of him, screams of agony echoed through the open field as the parting and broadening of his shoulders saw an end to Kazuki's transformation.

Kazuki was what some Humans would refer to as a 'Werewolf' but anyone who knew, could easily name him as a 'Wolfwitch'. Unlike a Werewolf, Kazuki didn't have a full transformation, he merely took on the posture and strength of a Wolf. His most feared trait was his ability to call on his own life energy, giving it the physical form of a sort of red glow and being able to use this energy in formidable attacks. This attack became commonly known as Saiun Sei. It was this sort of fear that drove Kazuki out of his clan and lead to him finding Ichigo and the mansion.

Kazuki glared around at the other adolescents, of whom had stepped back a way and were all peering upon him with wide eyes. Growling and abrupt snarls poured out of Kazuki's mouth from where he was drooling due to the fangs that kept his lips from meeting. As his gaze travelled from teenager to teenager it came to a sudden halt, focusing on the cat-eared girl who had been standing, allowing her anger to boil up and despite how much of an animal Kazuki had been reduced to, a sharp and painful sense of fear travelled as a shiver down his reconstructed spine. This was because, unfortunately for Kazuki, he wasn't the only one with another form, with a 'beast' hidden inside of them.

Dar'Ichi.

Dar'Ichi was born a demon in human form. Not a lot was known about her origin apart from the fact her village feared her and at an early age had her killed. Unknown as to how but that only destroyed her physical from and her spirit was left to wander. Dar'Ichi then went on to reside and lay dormant inside a young girl's heart, being passed from soul to soul through the bond of a Mother and Daughter. Generations later the heart in which she resided belonged to none other than Ichigo. Dar'Ichi and Ichigo's bond proved stronger than any before and allowed Dar'Ichi to gain control over Ichigo's body, being released to do so, only when Ichigo was overcome with rage. The first few times Dar'Ichi took over, her intent was identified as to protect Ichigo and those close to her heart, but the more Dar'Ichi took over, the more control she gained. The group's last encounter with Dar'Ichi proved a fearsome battle, having Dar'Ichi unleash but a glimpse of her unimaginable power. It was at that point that this demon even named itself as Dar'Ichi, which is believed to be an abbreviation of 'Dark Ichigo'. It was in no way doubted among the group, after the last encounter, that if Dar'Ichi was ever to be released again, she would gain complete control.

Ichigo looked at Kazuki, her eyes filled with rage and hate.

"Your friend dies... so you just... BURIED HIM?" She screamed at him as her eyes started to glow a blood red colour. The strands of her pink hair slowly bled into the same colour of her eyes. Her body jolted as her outfit slowly turned to stone and after a few seconds cracked and broke away revealing a new black outfit. She was now wearing a Japanese Gothic style black corseted mini dress decorated with red crucifixes, and matching hold-ups. Tenshi stared at Ichigo, and mumbled softly,

"Just leave him alone... avenge him later..." Ichigo looked directly at Tenshi, her red hair flicking in the opposite direction as she turned her head swiftly.

"Tsuki's death must be avenged!" She spoke almost demoniacally, in a more sincere way that normal. Hikari turned to look at Ichigo and noticed this transformation. Her voice suddenly showed a hint of fear, as she cried out;

"Ichigo... DON'T LET DAR'ICHI OUT!"

"Too late my dear" Dar'Ichi turned to look at Hikari, a frightening look in her eye.

"Ichigo has already retreated to the depths of our heart" Kazuki witnessing this, jumped back a fair way and prepared to fight. Dar'Ichi looked over at Kazuki and smirked.

"Such blood lust... Let me clench my thirst with this fool" Kazuki, upon hearing this charges at Dar'Ichi, emitting a red glow which began tearing up the ground around him, sending tree's and other bits of debris flying in opposite directions. Within the blink of an eye Dar'Ichi disappears right in front of Kazuki and appears merely inches above him. She swings her arms out to each side and a burst of energy, materialising into a dark glow, similar to Kazuki's attack, pulsates from her body hitting Kazuki with incredible force, sending him hurdling away at high speed. He digs his claws into the ground, tearing it up but slowly bringing himself to a stop. Engulfing himself in his own Saiun Sei, Kazuki then sends a massive blast of it towards Dar'Ichi at a speed seemingly too high for her to dodge. She holds her hands out in front of her and the energy bends around her as if she was protected by some sort of invisible force field. She laughs and smirks at him, with an evil

sparkle in her eye as if she was enjoying herself.

Meanwhile back by the cottage Tsuki climbed up out of the flowerbed, stood up and brushed the dirt off of him, yawning, then stretched and entered the mansion through the main entrance. He flicked a speck of dirt off of his black, long sleeved, hooded jacket, before pulling up his sleeves and then fumbled around in the pockets of his jeans, pulling out a packet of cigarettes. Flicking back his long, spiky, black and blue hair, he pulls a cigarette out of the packet and placed the tip in his mouth, allowing it to rest between his lips as he resumed fumbling about in his pocket. He looked back at the door sharply and listened to the noises going on outside. He heard a loud crash and felt the earth shake a little. Hearing this he walked back over to the doorway, thinking.

"I wonder what's going on outside?"


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Panting due to the energy that was burnt up when firing his attack, Kazuki looked up at Dar'Ichi, confusion emitted as he opened his mouth in order to speak, his lips remaining parted for a moment as his chin became soaked by the uncontrollable drooling that came from his mouth. Kazuki began speaking to Dar'Ichi, though his speech was more like growling at this point, his voice deeper and noticeably rougher.

"How.... How did you block my attack like that…? And how did you manage to copy it for that matter... My Saiun Sei is unique to my heritage..." Kazuki quizzed, his words often interrupted by beast like snarls, his fangs visible the whole time. Hearing this Dar'Ichi simply began to laugh, her hair momentarily being brushed in front of her face as the wind caught it in its grip, before falling back into place and trailing down her back.

"ANSWER ME!" Kazuki screamed, enraged by Dar'Ichi's mannerisms.

"I suppose it comes as no surprise that an animal such as yourself would fail to identify my abilities..." Dar'Ichi began mockingly as she held up her hand close to her face, preventing the wind from pushing her hair back into her line of vision.

"I am psychokinetic." Hearing this merely caused Kazuki's confused expression to become more obvious, Dar'Ichi recognising this rolled her eyes and continued.

"I have telepathy and a mastery of telekinetic abilities... Which basically means that I could split every atom of your existence right this second if I so wished to... But that would be no fun; you have yet to amuse me..."

Hikari, tightly gripping Tenshi's wrist, pulled her down to the ground as they sought shelter under the willow tree, backed closely against the tree trunk. Tenshi turned to look at Hikari, growing evermore uneasy as she peered upon the trembling girl besides her. Despite being naïve to the situation, Tenshi suspected the direness of it, feeling the very peril she could see in Hikari's eyes. _To have shaken up a girl as strong as Hikari..._ Before Tenshi could even begin to question what had her companion so scared her attention was brought back to the fight that progressed before her.

Kazuki, the whole while he and Dar'Ichi had been conversing, had slowly backed away from her and now stood on the outskirts of the surrounding forest, the trees stood merely inches behind him. Turning swiftly in order to face the trees, Kazuki then went on to dig his claws deeply into the trunk of the closest one. Groaning from the effort, he then pulled on the tree, his heightened strength allowing him to unearth it, the roots being dragged out of the ground, leaving soil to fall from them. Stretching out his arms, Kazuki allowed the tree he was gripping to fall into a horizontal position as he spun around in a complete 360 in order to gain momentum. Releasing the tree to fly towards Dar'Ichi, cutting through the air as it grew closer, Kazuki made a point not to waste a single second as he drew all of his remaining power to the palm of his right hand before firing the accumulated energy as his final attack. As the energy took the air it began to constrict into a sphere of concentrated energy, maximising its destructive power. Kazuki's attack flew towards Dar'Ichi, hidden from her line of sight in the shadow of the tree that was hurtling towards her.

Holding out her hands directly in front of her, Dar'Ichi smirked before moving them to the right in a swift movement, the tree being cast aside in the same movement, mere seconds before colliding with her. Dar'Ichi's eyes widened as she saw the Saiun Sei sphere, heading for her at such high a speed that from such a short distance away, Dar'Ichi barely had time to blink before impact. Hikari gasped in utter shock as Dar'Ichi was slammed by the sphere, sending her flying backwards into the midst of the forest, leaving a cloud of dust in her wake. The adolescents stared at the spot that Dar'Ichi had been cast down to as several trees fell from their upright position, causing the ground to shake. Unknown as how to react, nobody moved, even Raito who had been awoken by the commotion failed to move an inch, they all simply lay waiting, expecting Dar'Ichi to emerge from the forest.

"Did you honestly believe that I would fall for a trick like that?" Kazuki's eyes widened hearing the familiar, demonic voice as he hesitantly turned to look over his shoulder, his suspicions confirmed by the unharmed Dar'Ichi that stood behind him.

"How did...?" Kazuki wasn't even able to complete his sentence before he was thrown away from Dar'Ichi, leaving him to crash into the ground with a force so strong that the earth beneath him even cracked. Remaining still in the mess of dirt in which he lay, Kazuki coughed and spluttered as his attempt to move his body failed due to the strain of repeatedly utilizing the Saiun Sei which had subsequently drained him of his energy. All attempts to speak were obsolete for Kazuki as the moment his lips parted blood would come pouring out of his mouth, staining his chin before it dripped from it and joined the beads of dew that decorated the grass. His human instincts wanted him to grasp at his stomach in a futile attempt to stop the pain that erupted from that point however Kazuki's body could not even move in order to satisfy that impulse. His eyes shut tightly, blocking out the world as they wanted to block out the immense pain being experienced, leaving Kazuki to face the darting thoughts that raced through his mind, unable to focus on any particular one, merely the pain. Opening his eyes again Kazuki witnessed the blurry image of Dar'Ichi making her way towards him, however his eyes refused to focus on this and closed once again. Kazuki could only just make out the faint sounds of his friends cry out to him with worry, he wished he could get up, if only to reassure them but he knew he wouldn't be getting up again. Finally able to focus on the sole thought, Kazuki wondered what Dar'Ichi would do to him, he knew from experience that she was ruthless and had no sense of mercy so he didn't doubt that she would kill him without hesitation with him being unable to defend himself. _Would she do it quickly? Would she make it hurt?_ These were the last thoughts to enter Kazuki's mind before even the insides of his eyelids grew as black as could be and the warmth of his own body grew uncomfortably cold.

Dar'Ichi stepped forward, arriving just before Kazuki, his body's only movement being the heaving of his chest in time with his heavy breathing. Taking a moment to peer upon the mess that was her victim, Dar'Ichi smirked before holding her arms out to her side and standing as if nailed to a cross. The air around her grew denser as her feet slowly left the ground on which they previously stood, allowing Dar'Ichi's body to ascend upwards, leaving her floating in midair, around ten foot above the ground. Dar'Ichi's eerily calm voice leaked words lacking emotion as she cried out into the clearing as if to the heavens themselves, if only to inform them of her next move.

"Gomanharii!" The words echoed around the field, burning in the ears of those watching, causing Tenshi to turn to face the shaking vampire crouched besides her, her naïve eyes filled with wonder and confusion.

"What's 'Gomanharii"? questioned the girl in a timid whisper.

As naïve as the girl was, even Tenshi feared what would happen if the demon before her were to even acknowledge her existence, so her words; uttered under her breath, barely reached Hikari. Hikari turned towards Tenshi, her fangs glistening as she opened her mouth in order to speak. She understood that Tenshi had never before witnessed Ichigo's transformation or the horrific events that inevitably followed it so there would have been no way for her to know about Dar'Ichi's favoured attack, the one she was about to unleash.

"Gomanharii…" Began Hikari, her voice hushed as not to gain Dar'Ichi's unwanted attention.

"…Is Dar'Ichi's favourite attack, and her most formidable one at that. There's no way to escape it… Kazuki will…" Hikari gulped, unable to finish the sentence, her voice wavering and tears welling up in her eyes at the mere thought of what she was about to witness being done to someone she had grown so close to. Her eyes closed tightly, wishing there was something, _anything_ that she could do, all the while knowing that wishing and hoping would do nothing in this situation.

"B-But what is 'Gomanharii'? What does it mean… And… What will happen to Kazuki…?" Hikari's train of thought was interrupted by Tenshi's reply and she opened her eyes and went on to try and finish her sentence.

"Dar'Ichi isn't from our time and she often speaks in her own language, a language that actually died out centuries ago." Tenshi's eyes widened hearing this but decided not to question it for now, so she listened intently as Hikari continued on, holding back her tears.

"We've all seen Gomanharii before and we concluded that it was loosely translated as… 'Fifty-Thousand Needles'…" Hikari could no longer hold back and small tears ran down her cheeks, staining them with her emotion. Hikari's eyes screamed of traumatic events she had lived through and of how much she feared what she was about to see.

No more words could be spoken as Dar'Ichi began to unleash her attack, Kazuki's seemingly lifeless body lying in wait. Dar'Ichi brought her hands in from her sides and swiftly clasped them together, leaving them still in that positing for a moment, slowly preparing her assault. Separating her hands, all the while keeping them aligned with each other as if they were holding a small ball, Dar'Ichi gradually increased the distance between her palms. In the centre of her hands, afloat in midair was a metal sphere; about the size of a marble, growing larger in proportion to the space in-between Dar'Ichi's hands until it reached around four feet in diameter, her arms now spread to their previous position once again. At this point the metal sphere began to flatten out until it appeared to be practically two dimensional before going on to hastily increase the size of it's diameter, spreading out around Kazuki, then joining up again to form a perfect hollow sphere, completely encasing Kazuki. Within seconds of capturing Kazuki the sphere began to levitate, rising high up into the air until it was hovering several feet above the ground. Several cracks appeared in the metal surface of the sphere as it progressively broke up into tiny little pieces, each mere millimetres apart from each other, leaving visible Kazuki who was now alleviated directly in the centre of them.

Each minuscule shard then metamorphosed into the shape of a small acupuncture needle, their sharp tips glistening in the sunlight as it peeped out from behind the clouds in order to witness the unfolding event. Both Raito and Hikari, unable to contain themselves despite the direness of the situation jumped to their feet, Raito descending from the tree branch on which he had been sitting and landing left of Hikari. Each of the three adolescents eyes were wide, their mouths open, unknowing as to whether they should cry out or try to stop Dar'Ichi, but all the while knowing that either way would be futile. Before they even had time to blink, let alone make a move the needles surrounding Kazuki flew inwards at an incredible speed, too fast for the human eye to even register. The impact of the needles as they cascaded down into Kazuki was so immense that his body practically exploded before everyone, every litre of blood that previously resided in his body rained down upon the field and everything in it with such a force that it sprayed upon everything it touched. Small pieces of flesh following the blood which smacked against the grass, splattered up the willow tree and splashed everyone, leaving them painted a dark crimson with all that remained of Kazuki. Dar'Ichi, upon being splashed all up her body, failed to even blink but went on to place her middle finger upon her cheek, slowly wiping off some of the blood she was drenched with before placing the finger in her mouth and commencing to suck off the blood, swallowing it without hesitation with a look of satisfaction in her sparkling, pupil-less eyes, their colour that of blood.

**Chapter 8**

_A small girl around the age of six wondered seemingly aimlessly through a busy high street, the frustrated and irritated shoppers moving swiftly to and from various market stalls. The dusty road was full of people but this girl was alone, her long black hair swayed from side to side with each step she took. The girl came to a halt and looked up at a woman who was standing in front of her, browsing the items of one of the many stalls, contemplating what to buy. Clearing her throat in order to gain the attention of the woman, the small girl looked up at her and smiled warmly, her ebony hair falling away from her face revealing her bright, blood red eyes as they widened, twinkling as they reflected the sunlight. The woman turned to face the girl, her eyes widening as she looked down upon her, but the woman's expression was not a cheery, innocent one as the girl's was, but more angst-ridden. The young girl began to part her lips, as she held up a doll towards the woman. The doll had long yellow hair weaved from wool and a wide smile painted across it's plush face however it's left eye was no longer sat in it's usual spot but hung on merely by a single thread, hanging loosely, half way down it's face. She was about to ask the woman if she could direct her to a stall where she could have her doll repaired when the woman frowned and as if to dismiss the girl's existence; brushed past her, knocking her to the floor. _

_The girl fell face-first, her face scraping along the dusty floor, her hair flipping forwards and concealing her injured face. She lay still for a moment, trying to hold back the tears when just as she was about to get back up a sharp pain ran up her leg. She looked up to see an angry looking middle-aged man who was already beginning to bald and had obviously been drinking by the rank odour protruding from his mouth and clothes. The man pulled back his leg and prepared to lay another kick on her, this time his foot hit her in the stomach, knocking her onto her back and leaving her grasping her stomach in pain, releasing her grip on her doll which fell to the floor beside her. The man's lips moved but the girl could hear nothing over the ringing in her ears as the sharp pains pulsated throughout her body. She stood up shakily, tears now rolling down her cheeks uncontrollably. There was a graze on her left cheek from the impact of her fall and she went on to place her hand on it, holding it comfortingly. The man pulled his leg back once again and thrust it outwards at the little girl so she turned and ran to avoid another kicking and carried on running right out of the market street. Her doll lay, a dusty mess on the floor allowing the man to stand on it as he stumbled away to continue shopping, leaving it imprinted with muddy marks. The string holding the eye detached from the dolls face leaving the eye to fall away, landing on the floor beside it._


End file.
